on my \nhomepage<\/a>, I provided a summary of the top news for the month of June in health, \nnutrition, and medicine. In my introduction, I discussed the theme of lifestyle \nmedicine as a preventative and effective strategy in reducing risk of various diseases. \nThere is a large amount of research in this area and in this blog I review some \nof the studies on how exercise impacts the brain and body.<\/p>\nBut first, I wanted to discuss one of my favorite studies \nthis month. It was based on how a personalized intervention program actually \nreversed Alzheimer’s disease in 10 subjects!<\/p>\n
Reversal of Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s Disease with Personalized \nApproach<\/u><\/p>\n
A paper \npublished in Aging<\/i> reported on ten \ncase studies, including subjects with genetic risks, who showed reversal of \nAlzheimer’s disease using a comprehensive, personalized approach known as the MEND \nprotocol. In this method, doctors assess an individual’s medical history, \ngenetics, lifestyle, lab work, and current medications and use these results to \nfind the best FDA-approved medications, supplements, and lifestyle changes for \nthat specific patient’s needs. Results prior to the intervention and after were \nbased on quantitative MRI and neuropsychological testing. <\/p>\n
The authors \nsummarize the amazing findings in their discussion as follows:<\/p>\n
These observations provide further \nsupport for the previously reported finding that the personalized protocol for \nmetabolic enhancement (note that the metabolic evaluation included parameters \nshown to affect Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology, such as homocysteine [15], \nglucose [16], and inflammation [17], as well as numerous others as previously \ndescribed [3]) in Alzheimer’s disease leads to the reversal of cognitive \ndecline in at least some patients with early Alzheimer’s disease or its \nprecursors, MCI (mild cognitive impairment) and SCI (subjective cognitive \nimpairment). To our knowledge, the magnitude of the improvements documented in \npatients 1 and 2 is unequaled in previous reports: in patient 1, the increase \nin hippocampal volume from 17th<\/sup> percentile to 75th<\/sup> percentile \nsupports the marked symptomatic improvement that he (and others) achieved on \nthe protocol. In patient 2, quantitative neuropsychological testing \ndemonstrated improvements of up to three standard deviations (CVLT-IIB, from 3rd<\/sup> \npercentile to 84th<\/sup> percentile), with multiple tests all showing \nmarked improvements. These findings complement and support the marked \nsubjective improvement already published for this patient [3].<\/i><\/p>\nExercise \nand Movement for Memory Boost<\/u><\/p>\n
A \nnew study with 72 participants randomized them into three groups: exercise \nprior, four hours later, or no exercise, in relation to the completion of a \nmemory task. 48 hours later, the participants returned to assess their memory \nand have a brain scan of representation of the task in the memory region. \nAccording to Medical Xpress<\/i>, “The researchers found that those who exercised \nfour hours after their learning session retained the information better two \ndays later than those who exercised either immediately or not at all. The brain \nimages also showed that exercise after a time delay was associated with more \nprecise representations in the hippocampus, an area important to learning and \nmemory, when an individual answered a question correctly.”<\/i><\/p>\n
It’s \nnot just interval training that may boost brain function. In a pilot study with \nolder adults, it was found that yoga caused changes in neural connections in \nthe brain and memory improvement. The study was a small group comparison \nconsisting of 25 subjects with cognitive impairment. The researchers assessed \nyoga versus memory enhancement training for 12 weeks. According to the study, “The yoga group demonstrated a statistically \nsignificant improvement in depression and visuospatial memory. We observed \nimproved verbal memory performance correlated with increased connectivity \nbetween the DMN and frontal medial cortex, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, \nright middle frontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and left lateral \noccipital cortex. Improved verbal memory performance positively correlated with \nincreased connectivity between the language processing network and the left \ninferior frontal gyrus. Improved visuospatial memory performance correlated \ninversely with connectivity between the superior parietal network and the \nmedial parietal cortex.”<\/i><\/p>\n
Exercise May Help Adults Cope with ADHD (Attention \nDeficit Hyperactivity Disorder)<\/u><\/p>\n
In a recent study with 32 young men with ADHD \nresearchers at the University of Georgia found that exercise helped the \nsubjects with focus and motivation. According to Science Daily<\/i>, the participants “cycled at a moderate intensity for 20 minutes on one day, and on \nanother day sat and rested for 20 minutes as a control condition. The \nparticipants were asked to perform a task requiring focus both before and after \nthe different conditions, and researchers noted leg movement, mood, attention \nand self-reported motivation to perform the task. As a result, researchers \nfound that it was only after the exercise when the participants felt motivated \nto do the task; they also felt less confused and fatigued and instead felt more \nenergetic. Interestingly, leg movements and performance on the task did not \nchange after the exercise–rather, the exercise helped the young men feel \nbetter about doing the task.”<\/i><\/p>\n
Lifestyle \nIntervention Works for Diabetics at Risk<\/u><\/p>\n
Results \nfrom a recent lifestyle intervention program developed at the University of \nPittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health demonstrated the positive impact on \ndiabetes and heart disease risk using the Group Lifestyle Balance program. The study consisted of \n223 participants who had prediabetes and\/or metabolic syndrome. The program was \nmodified from the lifestyle intervention program used in the highly successful \nU.S. Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). The DPP previously demonstrated that \nweight loss and physical activity outperformed drugs in preventing diabetes or \nmetabolic syndrome. According to a recent report on the study in Science Daily<\/i>, “Group Lifestyle Balance is a 22-session program administered over a \none-year period aimed at helping people make lifestyle changes to lower their \nrisk for diabetes and heart disease. The goals of the program are to help \nparticipants reduce their weight by 7 percent and increase their moderate \nintensity physical activity (such as brisk walking) to a minimum of 150 minutes \nper week.<\/i><\/p>\n
Read more on the power of lifestyle medicine on my current blog here<\/a>. <\/p>\nSources:<\/p>\n
Aging \nArticle: http:\/\/www.aging-us.com\/article\/9R5JsRe8k4Jq7uTXj\/text#fulltext<\/p>\n
Mend \nProtocol: https:\/\/museslabs.com\/individuals\/<\/p>\n
Medical \nXpress: http:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2016-06-hours.html<\/p>\n
J Alzheimers Dis<\/i>.: http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/m\/pubmed\/27060939\/<\/p>\n
Science \nDaily: https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2016\/06\/160616141350.htm<\/p>\n
Science \nDaily: https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2016\/06\/160608104252.htm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This week, on my homepage, I provided a summary of the top news for the month of June in health, nutrition, and medicine. In my introduction, I discussed the theme of lifestyle medicine as a preventative and effective strategy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[41,320,729,900],"yoast_head":"\r\n
More Reasons to Move Booties & a Personalized Lifestyle Approach for Preserving the Brain - Living Well In Saratoga Springs NY: Saratoga's Holistic Health Forum Blog<\/title>\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \n\t \n\t \n\t \r\n